Major Assignment

Running head: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Job Satisfaction

Faraji C. Edwards

Walden University

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Part 1

Problem Statement

The task of ensuring that employees are satisfied with their jobs and the environment that

they are operating is often challenging for most managers. Employees are satisfied with their

jobs when they find personal meaning in their careers, take pride in whatever they undertake and

where they work, and have the feeling that their firms value them. In a competitive environment,

organizations desire to retain its highly skilled and talented workforce by creating programs such

as training, promotion, coaching, rewards, incentives and bonuses. While these strategies are

effective, they sometimes fail to meet the desired objective of attaining full job satisfaction

(Janssen et al., 2004). This raises the question of whether factors such as emotional intelligence

also have a role to play in increasing employee job satisfaction.

The impact of emotional intelligence on job satisfaction has attracted numerous academic

attentions. Emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize personal feelings and those of

others in order to motivate the self and to maintain emotions in both the self and the relationships

(Raj & Ms. Deepti, 2016). Employees who express high job satisfaction also have high

emotional intelligence. In addition, (Dabke, 2014) asserts that emotional intelligence results in

employee’s satisfaction with life, a phenomenon that manifests itself in form of high job

satisfaction. Further, (Wolfe and Hyub, 2013) found that the influence of emotional intelligence

on job satisfaction manifests itself in form of the length of job tenure of an employee. To them,

high emotional intelligence increases employee’s longevity in an organization. While these

studies point to the existence of a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and job

satisfaction, not much has been done on ways of improving emotional intelligence among

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employees. Job satisfaction and emotional intelligence, therefore, need to be given more weight

in any organization because they act as key factors in the success of an organization.

Part 2

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the relationship between emotional

intelligence and job satisfaction. In particular, the research seeks to explore various practices

that organizations have put in place to improve workers’ emotional intelligence in order to

promote job satisfaction. This is because while the impact of emotional intelligence on job

satisfaction has been well documented in many studies. However the study I objectively focused

on perfecting other studies because of a dearth of knowledge on understanding various

organizational programs and HR practices that improve emotional intelligence.

Justification of Qualitative Approach

In order to ensure that the study will be fit with the constructivist epistemology and

ontology, various strategies will be employed. Some of the strategies include; studying the

employees of the various organization and acquiring knowledge from them to get their thoughts

towards job satisfaction and also the way they handle their emotions. Secondly, learn the social

culture of employees while considering a diversified number of the organization. This helps to

know the relationship amongst the employees and also with the management plus the current

strategies employed to ensure job satisfaction and emotional intelligence. Much emphasis will be

placed on interpretation as opposed to quantification, and subjectivity rather than objectivity.

This is because interpretation methods tend to focus on analytically revealing the meaning-

making practices and show how such practices configure to generate observable outcomes.

Quantitative research involves some statistics that may be biased and involves a wide study with

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less information (Sandelowski, M, 2000). Moreover, emotional intelligence and job satisfaction

are objects of study that are not easily quantified. Thus, the study will be based on subjective

ontology and a constructivist epistemology. Therefore, the best mechanism to achieve

objectivity is by using the above two techniques that are ontology and a constructivist

epistemology. In order to gain more perspectives about the phenomena under study, multiple

qualitative research methods will be used. These will include observation, interviews,

questionnaires, as well as focus groups.

Bourke, B. (2014). Positionality: Reflecting on the research process. The Qualitative

Report, 19(33), 1-9.

Positionality forms an important component of reflexivity. To achieve positionality in any

research, one has to be aware of the potential challenges and opportunities which concern one’s

positionality. Secondly, one has to draw the findings from the research and also make

conclusions aimed at the research. Reflexivity will entail conducting a self-scrutiny, as well as a

self-conscious awareness of the link between the relationship between the researcher and the

subject of study. There will be an accurate expression of the voice that leads to the reporting of

the study findings. Reflecting about my positionality will enable me to negotiate my research

status and allow the research team to participate in the study process on equal terms. As

indicated earlier, their sources of data for the study will include; observation, interviews,

questionnaires, as well as focus groups.

Research Questions

The questions below will be based on selected organizations where the research will be

carried out and it will be for the employees aged between 25-55 years of age. The

participants will also include teachers.

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1. What is the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction?

2. In what ways is emotional intelligence improved in the workplace? Based on the

organization where the study is carried out.

3. What are the indicators of job satisfaction in that particular organization?

4. What are the indicators that employees may leave such organization in regard to their

current level of emotional intelligence?

5. Does emotional intelligence result in improved employee performance?

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Part 3

According to the research above, social change is the changes employees of a particular

organization will make to their behaviors regarding their job satisfaction and emotional

intelligence. Moreover, such changes are aimed at positively improving the organization and the

society as a whole. Therefore, from my research, the findings will aid in making a difference in

the community and national levels. The research will come up with ways of improving the

reputation of many organizations within the community through improved employee satisfaction

which will, in turn, attract more employees. One of the strategies that need to be implemented is

by leaders is humanizing the employees by being flexible and also fair when training the new

employees to ensure that all problems are solved, and there is 99 percent feedback. Being

transparent and clear regarding communication is another essential point aimed ate humanizing a

workforce to ensure that the duties are properly delegated and in time, just to mention but a few.

If above strategy is implemented, employees will achieve their job satisfaction and also control

their emotions in a proper way (Hall, D. T, 1976).

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Annotated Bibliography

Raj, A., & Uniyal, D. (2016). A Study of Emotional Intelligence in Relation to Job

Satisfaction Among The Senior Secondary Teachers of Dehradun District.

International Journal of Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies, 3(3).

In an attempt to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence of senior

secondary school teachers with their job satisfaction, Raj, and Uniyal (2016) used a random

sampling technique to select 300 senior teachers in Dehradun district. Their research findings

were published in an article titled A Study of Emotional Intelligence in Relation to Job

Satisfaction among the Senior Secondary Teachers of Dehradun District. Using Teachers’

Emotional Intelligence Inventory and Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaires, the

researchers found that all senior secondary teachers who scored below average in emotional

intelligence also had low job satisfaction. Further, individuals who had higher job satisfaction

also had high emotional intelligence. As a result, the researchers recommend programs

geared towards improving employees’ emotional intelligence.

Dabke, D. (2014). Can Life Satisfaction be predicted by Emotional Intelligence, Job

Satisfaction and Personality type?. Prin. LN Welingkar Institute of Management

Development & Research, 22. In a scholarly work titled Can Life Satisfaction be predicted

by Emotional Intelligence,

Job Satisfaction and Personality type, Danke (2014) examines the concept of life satisfaction

as a whole, and relates it to emotional intelligence and job satisfaction. In the above research,

data was gathered with the use of battery tests from two hundred middle and senior level

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managers who finished the MSCEIT test of El, NEO Personality scale, Satisfaction with Life

Scale, and the Index of Job Satisfaction. Dabke revealed a positive correlation between Life

Satisfaction and Job Satisfaction. Thus, the study concludes that various aspects of emotional

intelligence influences job satisfaction. Job satisfaction further affects life satisfaction.

Wolfe, K., & Kim, H. J. (2013). Emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, and job tenure

among hotel managers. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 12(2),

175-191. In this article, Wolfe and Kim (2013) examine the relationship between emotional

intelligence and job satisfaction, and the association between emotional intelligence and job

tenure. After gathering data from supervisory and managerial workers in company and hotel

industry, Wolfe and Kim (2013) found that various emotional intelligence aspects such as

intrapersonal, general mood, and stress management, are key indicators of job satisfaction.

Further, the researchers revealed that some interpersonal components of emotional

intelligence such as communication and rewards are predictors of longevity.

Bourke, B. (2014). Positionality: Reflecting on the research process. The Qualitative

Report, 19(33), 1-9.

The article provides a reflection on the role of positionality when conducting research aimed

at the completion of a qualitative research project. (Bourke, B, 2014) finds that through the

use of the research project, the researcher can get his or her drawings on literature and

findings from the research project and then highlights potential challenges and opportunities

of being cognizant of one’s positionality. The importance of such situation is highlighted on

the conclusions and recommendations of the research.

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References

Dabke, D. (2014). Can Life Satisfaction be predicted by Emotional Intelligence, Job

Satisfaction, and Personality type?. Prin. LN Welingkar Institute of Management

Development & Research, 22.

Raj, A., & Uniyal, D. (2016). A Study of Emotional Intelligence in Relation to Job

Satisfaction Among The Senior Secondary Teachers of Dehradun District.

International Journal of Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies, 3(3).

Wolfe, K., & Kim, H. J. (2013). Emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, and job tenure

among hotel managers. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 12(2),

175-191.

Sandelowski, M. (2000). Focus on research methods-whatever happened to qualitative

description? Research in nursing and health, 23(4), 334-340.

Janssen, O., & Van Yperen, N. W. (2004). Employees' goal orientations, the quality of

leader-member exchange, and the outcomes of job performance and job satisfaction.

Academy of management journal, 47(3), 368-384.

Hall, D. T. (1976). Humanizing Organizations: The Potential Impact of New People and

Emerging Values Upon Organizations. Humanizing Organizational Behavior

(Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1976), 158-174.